The characteristic ‘Sanctuary’ is activated.

As soon as he sensed danger, Ryu Seo-ha instinctively spread a safe zone to envelop his body. Choi Gang-hu, who had been coldly looking down at the unconscious hunters, raised his eyes.

A subtle smile bloomed on his lips. It was an expression like a teacher generously praising a student who was following instructions well, saying “Well done” and “Good job”.

“…Mr. Choi Gang-hu. Right now……”

Ryu Seo-ha couldn’t understand the sudden trolling. Confused, he couldn’t finish his sentence and shifted his gaze behind him. To where a small black hole, like the one seen when the corpses of the 8 Apostles were retrieved, was swirling.

Sticks planted in a row on the sandy beach, terrorists sagging and tied to them, black smoke spewing from the tops of their heads, and the hole in the air gradually growing larger as it sucked it in.

It was exactly like the sacrificial ritual described in the original work. It was a ceremony to summon a higher being to this land by offering multiple sacrifices.

Shrunken pupils and mottled irises, blood vessels protruding on the skin and beast-like hair, sharply grown teeth. All the characteristics of the sacrifices indicated a half-demonized state.

“Park Je-hyun.”

The man who had instantly subdued all his allies, with his back to that grotesque scene, opened his mouth.

“Yes, Guild Master.”

Park Je-hyun, the physical awakener who had been following distantly throughout the overseas trip as if present yet absent, answered immediately like a devoted medieval knight.

“Last.”

Last, who had been guarding Ryu Seo-ha’s back while hidden, also revealed himself at his employer’s call. His ponytail swayed.

‘Strange.’

The attitudes of Last and Park Je-hyun gave a peculiar sense of discomfort. As if they were people who had been informed of the situation beforehand…

“Mr. Ryu Seo-ha, protect with your life.”

Choi Gang-hu’s voice that followed was calm. But determination could be felt in his eyes. Was this the resolve of a general entrusting his precious family to a subordinate before departing for a battlefield where life and death intersected in those days of old?

Park Je-hyun responded as if reciting, “I receive the order,” and raised his shield item. Last also answered silently by checking his combat items.

Only then could he understand. Choi Gang-hu intends to proceed with the ritual of the terrorists, no, the cult, as is. To summon the higher being and then deal with it himself to obtain information about the higher dimension.

“No!”

He had forgotten for a moment. Choi Gang-hu’s ultimate goal was revenge. He was the man from the original work who would try to achieve that goal no matter what cruel acts he had to commit or what sacrifices he had to step over.

Ryu Seo-ha kept shaking his head as he approached Choi Gang-hu. Pushing aside Park Je-hyun with his shoulder, who was blocking him with his body but couldn’t bring himself to touch him.

“I can’t help it if you’re disappointed in me.”

Choi Gang-hu lightly gestured to stop the two hurriedly following him and grasped Ryu Seo-ha’s hand. He seemed to think that Ryu Seo-ha was opposing the sacrifice of hundreds of terrorists’ lives.

“That’s not it……”

It was for a completely different reason. Choi Gang-hu would suffer an irreparable fatal wound in his first battle with the higher being. It would be the first crisis faced by the protagonist who had no match among humanity.

And with the help of Han Gaeul, who would awaken as an S-class creator, and Dr. Han Gang-seok with his extraordinary insight, he would turn the crisis into an opportunity.

“It’s too dangerous.”

But the timing was too early. Among the items he should have acquired before the first battle, only the main weapon, the Flexible Sword, had been fully obtained. Moreover, Han Gaeul had not even awakened yet.

“Don’t do it.”

Moreover, he was not in a state of full preparation at the moment. After instantly knocking out hundreds of hunters including S-class ones. Surely his mental and magical energy consumption must have been enormous. Would even 50% of his power remain?

“You don’t know what I’m trying to do.”

“Whatever it is. Don’t do it.”

The weight of Hwaran, the pebble-shaped item carefully stored in his pocket, pressed heavily on his entire body. Despite being stored in a space expansion pouch, there was no way it could have a significant weight.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Choi Gang-hu gave a brief kiss on the forehead of Ryu Seo-ha, who was clinging to him with a worried expression, and delivered an ominous promise before turning around.

“Excuse me.”

As if taking that as a signal, Park Je-hyun, who had approached with large strides, very lightly picked up Ryu Seo-ha, who was about the same height as him.

“Wait a moment.”

“We need to evacuate far away from here, it’s dangerous.”

Beyond the back of Park Je-hyun’s head as he turned around, Ryu Seo-ha could see Choi Gang-hu grasping the handle of the Flexible Sword he had summoned close by.

What was the intention of withdrawing his highly versatile telekinesis and troublesomely holding the weapon directly while pointing the sword tip towards the black hole?

The other name that readers used to jokingly call the Flexible Sword suddenly crossed his mind. The sword that tears space. The sword that splits dimensions.

He intends to tear apart the black hole connected to the higher dimension using the skill engraved on the item. To allow the higher being to appear faster.

“No.”

It was reckless. He cannot handle the higher being now. If he had diligently gathered the pieces of victory as per the original flow, it might have been different, but with Ryu Seo-ha’s intervention, the entire order had been messed up.

It was chilling. The sense of guilt for ruining the original work buff that the admired protagonist had enjoyed with his own hands strongly constricted his heart. What if Choi Gang-hu dies here? Ryu Seo-ha gritted his teeth.

Hwaran is not an item that can revive a specific person who has already died. Only when Choi Gang-hu, who has the [Predation] characteristic, ingests it in a specific way can he inherit a one-time revival skill.

“What……”

Park Je-hyun, who was trying to move as far away as possible with Last, let out an astonished exclamation. It was because the range of [Sanctuary] had expanded widely. Enough to include not only them but also the terrorists and Choi Gang-hu in its domain.

Buff ‘Status Ailment Removal’ is applied to the designated targets (666 non-awakened individuals).

The moment he spread the buff, he felt a strange repulsion that he had experienced once before. It was a sensation that was difficult to determine whether it was repulsive force or attractive force this time as well.

Ryu Seo-ha, without hesitation, drastically reduced the magical power distributed to each designated person, one by one. To the extent that for an ordinary person, the buff would not be applied and the effect would be canceled due to lack of magical power just before activation.

It was an attempt that relied on the fact that the effect of the characteristic is amplified on opponents who have undergone demonization for unknown reasons. Then, he focused on controlling his magical power.

As he manipulated his magical power as if retracing the route that Choi Gang-hu had led in front of the Chinese president, the muscles of the terrorists that had momentarily swollen up hideously began to gradually regain their normal form.

“Mr. Ryu Seo-ha.”

A low voice penetrated his ears. He couldn’t bring himself to look directly into Choi Gang-hu’s eyes as he turned towards him. A chilling sensation froze the nape of his neck.

Although he had only shown a kind appearance to Ryu Seo-ha so far, in the original work, he was a frighteningly goal-oriented person. To the extent that if an obstacle arose in the process of achieving his goal, he would eliminate it without hesitation.

Even those he had exchanged goodwill with were no exception. But to interfere with the opportunity to directly face the target of his revenge? He was afraid of how Choi Gang-hu might change. But what was even more frightening was…

“Urgh……”

Almost simultaneously, hundreds of terrorists who had been sagging limp trembled and groaned. It was because their survival instinct, which had been suppressed by mental abilities, had awakened.

“Gurg……”

It seemed they were trying to scream as they belatedly realized their situation, but only a sound like gurgling phlegm came out between their parted lips. Fear filled their eyes revealed under the bull masks.

Apart from the silent screams of those who had been used with their vocal cords cut, Ryu Seo-ha’s attempt yielded a meaningful result. The size of the already small black hole could be seen gradually decreasing.

“Urrrgh……”

The more the awakened sacrifices struggled and tried to break free from the sticks binding their bodies, the more noticeably the diameter of the black hole decreased.

Originally, sacrificial offerings are made through long, complex, and demanding procedures. It seems they tried to achieve a similar effect in just a few hours, but a hastily set up plan is also easy to overturn.

“Tsk.”

Clicking his tongue softly and adjusting his grip on the Flexible Sword, Choi Gang-hu lightly kicked off the sandy ground and leapt up to the point in the air where the black hole was open. And then a smooth vertical triple slash followed like flowing water.

The blade, imbued with a mystical light, slashed down consecutively on the black hole that had shrunk to the size of a fingernail. The black hole, directly hit by the skill contained in the Flexible Sword, was torn lengthwise.

Beyond the endless darkness, a massive form briefly revealed itself. The crimson color of its membrane wings dizzied the view like blood.

The moment the black form briefly flapped its membrane wings, dense magical power surged like a wave from beyond the hole and engulfed the dungeon like a tsunami.

“…!”

Ryu Seo-ha’s eyes widened at the nature of the magical power that penetrated even beneath the skin covered by clothes, ignoring [Sanctuary]. Something resembling the cooling sensation felt when eating a peppermint candy seemed to be touching his cells.

“Huk.”

A groan escaped without him realizing. Choi Gang-hu, who had dispersed the magical power dissolved in the surrounding air by slashing the front space with the Flexible Sword, paused his step as he was about to stride through the dimensional gap and turned around.

“Huu……”

His pale blue lips trembled like someone with chills. There was no pain. Just a severe nausea as if his soul was being shaken, blurring the focus of his eyes.

It was strange that his body was reacting so extremely when he had only been exposed to external magical power. The other fallen hunters and Choi Gang-hu showed no particular symptoms…

Just as he was trying to analyze the cause, Ryu Seo-ha lost consciousness.